An applicant tracking system's automated birthday greeting feature malfunctioned spectacularly this week, sending a candidate named Jessica an enthusiastic birthday email addressed to "Dear Michael." Jessica's birthday wasn't for another six months. Michael's was yesterday. The ATS apparently mixed up both the name and the date, achieving a perfect score in the "failing at basic personalization" category.

The Email That Shouldn't Have Happened

Reports indicate that the message read: "Happy Birthday, Michael! The team at [Company] wants to wish you a wonderful day. We're excited about your application and look forward to staying in touch!" Jessica was confused on multiple levels. Who's Michael? Why is she getting birthday wishes in June when her birthday is in December? And most importantly, does this mean she's getting an interview or not?

According to user reviews of ATS systems with automated messaging features, these mix-ups happen when candidate data gets jumbled during imports or when multiple candidates apply through the same device/browser session. The automation pulls the wrong variable, inserts it into the template, and fires off a message that makes zero sense to the recipient.

The particularly special touch here is that the email wasn't just wrong—it was aggressively wrong. Wrong person, wrong date, and sent to someone who'd already been ghosted by the company for three weeks after their final interview. The birthday wishes were literally the only communication they'd received. Jessica reportedly replied: "Thanks, but I'm not Michael and it's not my birthday. Is this about the job or...?"

The Response (Or Lack Thereof)

Sources familiar with the situation suggest the recruiting team didn't notice the error until Jessica's reply came through. The automated response to her reply? "Thank you for your interest! We'll be in touch if your qualifications match our needs." Absolutely zero self-awareness from the system. Just vibes and broken automation.

The recruiter who eventually saw Jessica's response allegedly sent an apology explaining it was a "system error" and that they'd "look into it." No mention of the actual job application status. No interview. No rejection. Just an apology for wishing someone named Michael a happy birthday in June.

Michael, for what it's worth, never got a birthday email. His actual birthday passed without acknowledgment from the company he'd applied to. The ATS apparently decided Jessica deserved his birthday wishes instead. Why? The system will never tell us. It's keeping that secret forever.

The Aftermath

User reviews indicate this incident has become an internal meme at the company. "Happy Birthday, Michael" is now what employees say when automation inevitably screws something up. Jessica still hasn't heard back about her application, but she did get a LinkedIn connection request from the recruiter, which honestly might be worse than the wrong-name birthday email.

The ATS vendor was reportedly contacted about the glitch. Their response was the standard "we're committed to continuous improvement" statement that means absolutely nothing. The birthday email automation is still running. More Michaels and Jessicas are in our future.

The Lesson

Automation is great until it's spectacularly not. If your ATS is sending birthday wishes to the wrong people on the wrong dates, maybe it's time to audit your workflows. Or just turn off the birthday emails entirely because let's be honest—no candidate thinks a generic automated birthday message from a company that's ignoring their application is genuine anyway.

Happy birthday to all the Michaels out there. And to Jessica: sorry about your birthday in six months. The ATS will probably get it wrong then too.